Crowdis Bridge Love & Photos

I am a very lucky girl.

Why? Because I count myself among the friends of Crowdis Bridge.

Crowdis Bridge is Andrew Fedora, Ben Furey and Jason Rudderman - three gentlemen I had the pleasure of meeting through Dennis. And aside from being genuinuely nice guys, they're also very talented musicians. You can see for yourself here:

And here!

And here!

Aren't they great?

So word got out that I like to take pictures. And Andrew, being the sweetheart that he is, asked me to take some pictures of the band for their upcoming debut album. I was honoured and excited to be given the chance. It meant a lot to me that someone out there thought my pictures were nice enough that they sought me out specifically to snap a photo or two.

Granted we're friends. And the Crowdis Bridge budget jives with my fee -that is to say, I "charged" brunch for my time... Nonetheless, any opportunity to shoot is an opportunity to learn and grow so I jumped at the chance to flex my band portraiture muscles. :)

Well, I had three handsome subjects but pretty crappy weather, it being the first snowstorm of the winter and all (waking up to 30 cm of snow was both magical and daunting this morning). So we tried a few outdoor shots but I couldn't feel my fingers, the boys were freezing and I wasn't feeling the love and warmth that I know exists with Crowdis Bridge.

So we headed over to their practice space (aka, Ben's girlfriend's apartment) and warmed up. The light was fairly low but I had borrowed a flash from a friend and figured it couldn't be that hard to figure out... bounce off ceiling, etc, etc.

I'm sad to report that the pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped. I think if I were stronger technically, I could have done a bang-up job. But alas, the flash was frustrating and then died on me. I didn't have extra batteries on hand and wasn't about to walk anywhere in the dismal weather conditions. I tried setting up the tripod but in such close quarters, I couldn't fit them all in without squishing myself in the corner.

Oh dear, now I sound like I'm whining. Trust me, I had fun! And would love to see myself doing this on a regular basis. But I am well aware of how much I need to learn.

So with out further ado, I give you a preview of the Crowdis Bridge Photo Shoot 11/22/08. Hopefully as the band grows, so too will my skill set and I'll get the chance to do it again! Thanks for the awesome day guys! xo.

(This one (above) is grainy, grainy, grainy. But of course, it has to be my favourite. Darn it all.)